Switchboards, Awareness, Virtues & Hope

Not too long ago I was attempting to describe to someone what Autism was like...how it manifested itself in my child. Autism: it's like an old fashioned telephone switch board...

...with Curious George acting as the operator! 

Some wires are connected correctly and the call goes through, others the wires in  misplaced and the call goes to another person. Some wires are only partially inserted so the call keeps cutting out and other wires are left just dangling and the call is going now where.

So in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, I feel the need to open my heart and share a part of “awareness” that is not often talked about… Behind every child with Autism are parents!

Parents who are traveling a journey they never dreamed they would be on,

parents who cry themselves to sleep at night,

parents who mourn the loss of having a "typical" child,

parents who stay home because going out in public is more often than not just too much to handle,

parents who sacrifice all they have to love a child only to be screamed and yelled at by that same child, parents who pray that it could all just go away,

parents who cry uncontrollably when extended an act of kindness,

parents who have come to expect the worst,

parents who have learned the fine art of endlessly advocating,

parents who are overcome with compassion when they see another Autism parent handling a difficult situation of their own,

parents whose hearts overflow with gratitude when they see another special needs child and realize it could be so much worse,

parents who plead daily for the enabling power of Christs Atonement to be felt in their life,

parents who are filled with anguish as they watch how hard the world is navigate for their child,

parents who learn to hear things that no one hears, see things that no one sees and smell things that no one smells,

parents who accept a slower pace of life,

parents who cherish a small success,
parents who are emotionally, physically & mentally exhausted,

parents who realize that the struggle is real (for both them and their child),

and parents who despite their own feelings and the obstacles that society & the world place in front of them keep, keeping on!

As an Autism parent I know that my child with Autism is a chosen, beloved child of a loving Heavenly Father who has entrusted him to my care because that same loving Heavenly Father knew that through my child I would learn the virtues of patience, love, compassion, empathy, humility, selflessness, articulateness, acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, more patience, self-reliance, gratitude, determination, persistence, charity & still more patience!

And with Easter just a day past I find great hope in knowing that one day, because of the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, I will be able to interact with my precious son with all his wires connected & functioning smoothly. What a joyous day that will be!